Start with a small palette
The easiest way to get better at mixing is to use fewer colors. A limited palette, for example a warm and a cool version of each primary, teaches you how your paints behave and keeps your paintings looking unified. Many beginners buy a large set and then struggle because every mix involves five or six pigments. With three to six tubes or pans, you can mix a wide range of colors and learn each one well. For what to buy, see watercolor supplies for beginners.
If you are unsure how hues relate, our overview of color theory for watercolor covers the color wheel and temperature.
Set up for clean mixes
A few habits make mixing more reliable.
- Begin with a clean palette. Leftover pigment can quietly change a mix.
- Use two water jars. One is for rinsing your brush and the other is for clean water to dilute the paint.
- Keep scrap paper nearby. Test every mix before it goes on your painting, ideally on the same paper.
- Mix enough paint. Running out partway through a wash and trying to remake the color is a common frustration, so mix a little more than you think you need.
Mixing secondaries and why bias matters
Mixing two primaries gives a secondary: yellow and blue make green, red and yellow make orange, and blue and red make violet. The results depend on which specific pigments you use. Most paints lean slightly toward one neighbor. A blue that leans toward green, for instance, will combine with yellow to make a cleaner, brighter green than a blue that leans toward violet, since the second blue brings a little red into the mix.
This is why many painters keep a warm and cool version of each primary. As a general rule, choosing two pigments that both lean toward the color you want gives the cleanest secondary. Choosing pigments that lean away from it gives duller results. That is not a flaw, because duller mixes are useful too.
Neutrals from complements
Complementary colors sit opposite each other on the wheel, such as blue and orange or red and green. Mixed in roughly equal amounts they tend to produce grays and browns. Change the proportions and you get warmer or cooler neutrals.
Mixed neutrals usually look more alive than gray straight from a tube because they lean slightly warm or cool. They are very useful for shadows, stones, tree trunks and skin (see painting skin tones in watercolor). To make a neutral, start with the lighter color and add the darker one gradually, since the darker pigment can overpower the mix quickly.
Mix on the palette or on the paper
There are two main approaches, and most painters use both.
- Mixing on the palette gives you a controlled, even color. It suits flat washes and anything where you want an exact hue.
- Mixing on the paper means putting one color down and touching a second into it while the paper is still wet. The pigments blend where they meet, which gives lively variation and soft transitions.
When you mix on the paper, work quickly and avoid stirring the colors too much, as overworking can lead to dull, muddy areas.
Blending colors on paper
To blend two colors, lay down one wash, rinse your brush, pick up the second color and touch it to the edge of the first while it is still damp. Tilt the paper slightly if you want them to flow together. A soft blend usually needs both colors to have a similar wetness. If one is much drier, you may get hard edges or backruns instead. See wet-in-wet watercolor painting for more on managing wetness.
Water, pigment and value
In watercolor, water does the job white paint does in other media. More water gives a lighter, more transparent version of a color, and less water gives a deeper one. Watercolor also typically dries lighter than it looks wet, so you may want to mix slightly darker than your target. For more on this, see value in watercolor painting.
Make a mixing chart
A mixing chart is one of the most useful things you can paint. Draw a grid, place your pigments along the top and down the side, and mix each pair in the squares where they meet. Label everything. Over time you will build a personal reference showing which combinations give clean colors and which give grays. Keep it near your table, and add to it when you buy a new pigment.
Color combinations that work
If you are unsure what to combine, try these relationships as starting points.
- Neighbors on the wheel (analogous), such as blue, blue-green and green, for calm paintings.
- Opposites (complementary), such as blue and orange, with one dominating and the other as an accent.
- A limited palette of two or three pigments for a whole painting.
Common mixing mistakes
- Mixing too many pigments together, which leads to mud.
- Overmixing on the palette until the color goes flat.
- Starting with the dark color first and then adding light color to correct it, which wastes paint. It is usually easier to begin with the lighter color and add the darker one gradually.
- Skipping the test swatch.
What is the golden rule of watercolor?
People give different answers, but one frequently repeated guideline is to work from light to dark, since you cannot easily lighten a transparent wash once it is down. Another common one is to respect the water: pay attention to how wet your paper and brush are, because that affects every result. These are habits to try rather than strict laws.
Good mixing also feeds into the rest of a painting. Plan your layout with watercolor composition and decide where your strongest colors will go before you begin.